Moved the tweeters to the dash and put the iridium midranges behind new stock kickpanels. I'm not sure if they're being useful down there or not, but its nice having the car look stock, I'll experiment more with them later.
Moving the tweeters up high really raised the sound stage and helped with top end extension but now the center image is really wide, that might be a result of the midranges still being in the kickpanels, will have to play more with it later.
These holes use to be vents.
Finished product, dremeled out the original vent (removable part, dash was left stock) and then wrapped it with grill cloth.
Also began work on the amp rack cover. I let my friend cut out most of this and it was his first time using the jigsaw, I think he did pretty well. It will all be detached from the fleece once the shape is made so that the cover is 100% fiberglass. Don't mind the messy wiring, still messing around with stuff back there
Why did you dremel out the inside of the vent? was that necessary?
Also, don't forget the supports to go between the upper amp corners flat out to the amprack corners. Otherwise the cloth stretched over will just sinkhole in. Rounded over via support will match the OEM trunk curves much better, in my opinion.
This install is one of the more enjoyable ones posted on this forum. Highly creative, good use of multiple materials, all "car audio" gear (as opposed to "diy audio" gear), and pretty well executed.
I'm guaranteed a good read every time this thread is opened.
Why did you dremel out the inside of the vent? was that necessary?
Yes, it's what the grill cloth is stretched around and also what the tweeters are attached to. Here is a photo of the vent, it is shallow and attached to a bendy rubber tube that was able to just be pushed out of the way. They should be a cheap part to replace if I change my mind, which I very well might
Quote:
Originally Posted by Whiterabbit
Also, don't forget the supports to go between the upper amp corners flat out to the amprack corners. Otherwise the cloth stretched over will just sinkhole in. Rounded over via support will match the OEM trunk curves much better, in my opinion.
Great suggestion, I agree.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Whiterabbit
This install is one of the more enjoyable ones posted on this forum. Highly creative, good use of multiple materials, all "car audio" gear (as opposed to "diy audio" gear), and pretty well executed.
I'm guaranteed a good read every time this thread is opened.
Move to the Mesa FTW!
Downtown is much more civilized than IV.....
Used to live on Calle Andalucia, it had the best view and was close to the beach and downtown!
First, I decided that the stock wiring would be enough. But rather than hack up the harness in the back of the car, I took apart a blown e36 amp I got from a friend to use the plugs out of it.
Look at this beauty
Picked this up at radioshack, it sucks the solder out of the circuit board joints
And off they come
Next, I loomed the stock wiring. To the right are 0 awg power and ground from the previous install.
I didn't have my camera on me for the 9861 install, but while I had the center console out, I loomed the factory wiring and ran the Ai-net and optical cable to the back of the car.
9861 installed
Cockpit as a whole, notice stock doors are back. I forget who said it, maybe it was mpire, but they claimed door panels never come as nice as they look in the photos, unfortunately they were right If someone has a mint set of estoril door panels for a z3, and they want to get rid of them, let me know.
Plugs attached. If I were to do this again, I think I would put the plugs into a box rather than attach them directly to the wires, I feel it would be more solid that way.
Everything making its way in
Everything plugged in. This was all covered later, to make sure nothing metallic touches anything important.
This is a 1/4" piece of birch plywood, covered in a rubberized undercoat. I was going to just expand the metal rack, but doing it this way allows me to not ground the chassis of the amps, and it is still very very solid. The shiny parts are paint that hasn't dried yet, I threw it on top of the bolts that hold the wood to the frame.
Fast forward a bit, and the amps are attached.
Wiring from the other side.
Power cables.
Wires!
And that brings us to where I am today. The amps are surprisingly difficult to line up perfectly, with a little more tweaking though I think I'll be able to get them in line.
Remaining plans are to make a cover for the amps out of an extra factory piece that I have. It will be cut and molded to fit, and then wrapped in either leather, or a nice vinyl. I'm also debating going with a larger midbass.
For reference, here is what the factory amp cover looks like.
This has been a really great read! Awesome work! Im wondering why the drastic change to new equipment! could you just not get the old stuff to work right/ sound exactly the way you wanted them to?
Re: Build Log: BMW M Coupe
.JPG)
.JPG)
If someone has a mint set of estoril door panels for a z3, and they want to get rid of them, let me know.
Linear Mode
